Feed your sourdough starter: Roughly 8-12 hours before you mix raspberry and pistachio bagel doughs, feed your sourdough starter (25g active starter, 90g water, 90g flour). This will yield enough active starter for the recipe (you need 125g of starter between the two doughs) plus extra so that you can maintain your starter. Sourdough starter is active and ready to use when it’s roughly doubled in size and the peak has just begun to drop back down on itself.
Prepare the raspberries: Dice your raspberries and reserve all of the juice. If you’re using frozen raspberries, warm them in the microwave, on a stove-top, or in an oven for a few minutes before dicing. Be sure to reserve any liquid they release during the warming process. Note: Make sure to let the raspberries cool fully before adding to your dough!
Mix the raspberry bagel dough: In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the raspberry bagel dough ingredients; bread flour, water, sourdough starter, honey, raspberries, salt, freeze-dried raspberry, and (optional) natural plant-based pink food coloring. Using the dough hook attachment of a stand mixer, mix on low speed for 6-7 minutes until smooth and elastic. If kneading by hand, knead for 8-10 minutes on a work surface. Optional: you can now add some additional freeze dried raspberries to the top of the dough to give it a more speckled look and add texture and color.
Transfer the dough: Transfer the dough to a bowl or Tupperware and and cover with a damp towel or lid.
Mix the pistachio bagel dough: Make sure to clean out our mixing bowl first! Then, in your large mixing bowl, add pistachio bagel dough ingredients: bread flour, water, sourdough starter honey, finely ground/chopped pistachio, sea salt, optional green and yellow natural planted based food coloring, optional almond extract. Mix on low speed for 6-7 minutes or knead by hand for 8-10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. At this point you can add the coarsely chopped pistachio pieces to the toop of the dough to add a little extra texture and flavor. To help the pieces stick you can use a spray bottle with water or gently knead them into the dough so they’re incorporated.
First rise: Cover the pistachio dough with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let both bagel doughs rise at room temperature for 6-8 hours, until roughly doubled in size.
Overnight proof: Place both of the covered doughs in the refrigerator to proof overnight. This process helps to develop flavor and build structure in the dough, plus the long and slow natural fermentation process with sourdough starter improves nutrition and enhances digestibility – a key reason why these bagels are gut healthy!
Braid the two doughs: The next day, remove both bagel doughs from the fridge. Divide each bagel dough into 8 equal portions. Roll out each portion into a 6’’’ log, and place each raspberry log next to a pistachio log so that you have a total of 8 green and pink pairs. Roll out each combined log into a single nine-inch long rope by rolling back and forth along the table, extending your hands towards each end to elongate the dough. Twist the ends of each rope to further swirl the 2 colors together. Repeat this process for all of the logs. Note: I wanted these to be more pink than green (which is why two-thirds of the dough is pink) so pink will be the dominant color.
Shape the bagels: Now it’s time to do the final shaping. Working 1 rope at a time, bring the two ends of the dough together and twist them around each other, overlapping about one inch. Now, wrap the bagel around your hand and roll the sealed end against the table to seal them together. Here is a great video from King Aurther Flour that provides a helpful visual of the bagel shaping process. Final rise: Place the shaped bagels on a greased baking sheet and let rise at room temperature for 1-3 hours, until puffy to the touch. If you have an proof setting on your oven or countertop oven, you can accelerate this process by proofing at 80-90 degrees for roughly 60 - 90 minutes
Boil the bagels: Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Boil each bagel for 1 minute per side. Remove with a slotted spoon and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake the bagels: Bake the bagels in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and firm to the touch. Allow them to fully cool for slicing.
Serve and enjoy!
